In the third debate, Mitt will likely go very hard against Obama on Embassy security.

[DreamGypsy]

27. How about a response like: House proposed $5 billion cut for State Department and foreign operation

From April 25, 2012

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/04/25/house_proposes_5_billion_cut_for_state_department_and_foreign_operations

The House Appropriations Committee proposed cutting the State Department and foreign operations budget by more than $5 billion next year, in its annual allocations released Tuesday.

The Obama administration actually requested modest increases in funding for the State Department and USAID for fiscal 2013 when it released its budget request in February. While the Congress doesn't divide up the accounts the same way as the administration, in an apples-to-apples comparison, the House Appropriations Committees' allocation for State and foreign operations for fiscal 2013, $48.4 billion, would represent a 12 percent cut from the administration's $54.71 billion request for the same accounts.

The House proposed fully funding the president's $8.2 billion request for State Department funding related to the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, known as the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account. Therefore, the remainder of the funding proposed by the House, $40.1 billion for the base budget, would represent a 14 percent cut to the administration's request for non-war related diplomatic and development activities.

snip

Subcommittee ranking Democrat Nita Lowey (D-NY) criticized the cuts in her own statement to The Cable.

"I am disappointed by this short-sighted allocation and the Republicans' decision to ignore bipartisan funding levels agreed to in the Budget Control Act," she said. "We must not make cuts that fundamentally weaken our national security interests."